Barnesy gets deeper into the groove

OZ rock legend JIMMY BARNES has assembled an awesome collection of American soul and blues session musicians for tonight's SOUL DEEPER performance at the Newcastle Civic Theatre. 'I've never been in a band like this,' he said. 'The pedigree is fantastic. With this band I really wanted to keep things raw and live. Get things back to relying on songs and grooves.' Barnes is touring to promote the follow-up CD to his enormously successful SOUL DEEP album, choosing this time to cover such soul hits as HOLD ON I'M COMING, I PUT A SPELL ON YOU, CHAIN OF FOOLS and AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG. Members of Barnesy's group include drummer JAMES GADSON, saxophonist DAVID WOODFORD, bass guitarist LARRY FULCHER, trumpet player LEE THORNBURG, guitarist JOHNNY LEE SCHELL, keyboard player MICK WEAVER and backing vocalists SWEET PEA ATKINSON. The musicians have performed with artists such as BB KING, BOOKER T & THE MGS, TAJ MAHAL, JOHN LEE HOOKER, JOE COCKER, RAY CHARLES and BOB DYLAN. METAL GODS: BRITISH heavy metal gods DEEP PURPLE have smiled upon Newcastle fans, announcing a seventh Australian show at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Wednesday, March 14. The pioneers of hard rock will perform four days after their Sydney concert, a day after the Wollongong show and the day before their final concert in Brisbane. It will be the band's first Australian concert in two years. On their last visit the band recorded a concert at Melbourne Park for a two-CD DVD release which has since gone gold.

CELTIC ROOTS: CELTIC music group SHIMHOR will launch a follow-up CD to its acclaimed THE MINER'S WIFE CD at Shortland Wetlands Centre from midday on Sunday. THE SCORE is a magnificent 12-track album featuring original material and traditional arrangements recorded entirely in the Hunter. The Miner's Wife received national airplay on ABC RADIO. The band is JOHN BELL on guitar and vocals, TIM PHELAN on guitar, tin whistles, bodhran, mandolin and vocals, ROSLIE THOR on mandolin, guitar, recorder, percussion and vocals, and PETER COOMBES on fiddle and vocals.